Hispanic Business At PepsiCo With Esperanza Teasdale

Alan Hart

3 years ago

On this 243rd episode of “Marketing Today,” I speak with Esperanza Teasdale, vice president and general manager of the Hispanic Business Unit for PepsiCo Beverages North America. Teasdale is responsible for the overall strategy, engagement, and sales for a Hispanic business unit that brings in over $2 billion per year.

We start our conversation with Teasdale’s experience from growing up with two parents that had both immigrated to the US from Ecuador in search of a better life. Since they both had demanding blue-collar jobs, Teasdale “grew up as a latch key kid,” taking herself to and from school as a child, essentially responsible for herself. Teasdale then discusses her engineering education, spending time in manufacturing environments after graduation until attaining her MBA and ultimately moving onto sales. Once Teasdale realized that the sales sector wasn’t for her, she moved to marketing.

We then dive into the Hispanic business unit and the “untapped potential” that led to its creation. Now and into the future, Teasdale and her team are focused on multicultural marketing, as “everything we do should be multicultural because that is the fabric of our country.” Teasdale takes us through the helping hands she received throughout her career as a result of her willingness to be vulnerable. “You don’t have to wait for someone to ask you to take a seat; you can take it yourself.” Lastly, we discuss the opportunity that marketers have today to think differently about their previously rejected ideas because “the world today is different than it was before!”

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:

As the daughter of immigrants, Esperanza greatly appreciates the sacrifices that her parents made to have a better life. 1:37
Esperanza’s parents came from the hot ecosystem of Ecuador to the cold winter in the US. 2:30
Equality is something that everyone is trying to achieve in today’s world, especially with all that has gone on this year. 3:22
There were times when Esperanza’s parents were injured or sick, and no money came in the door. 3:54
After studying engineering in her undergrad in college, Esperanza spent quite a bit of time in a manufacturing environment. 6:58
Esperanza’s company paid for her MBA, after which she had her choice of path, ultimately choosing marketing. 7:48
The Hispanic Business Unit at PepsiCo was created to tap into the previously untapped Hispanic sector. 10:36
Multicultural marketing has gone through a revolution that parallels the makeup of our country. 12:29
There is no one-size-fits-all in the melting pot that is the US, even within each culture. 13:13
P&G has shown to be a champion of diversity and inclusion by driving cultural relevance through its advertising. 16:03
Heading into the future, we need to be more culturally relevant, and the Hispanic Unit is an example of what the marketing industry should look like. 19:10
The chaos and uncertainty of 2020 caused PepsiCo to pause during the initial breakout of COVID. 22:10
Esperanza and her team made sure to study the effects of COVID on the habits of Hispanic consumers. 22:50
The Hispanic population has shown resilience in its journey to get to the US and this helped maintain optimism in the face of chaos. 24:37
To promote passionate multicultural youth’s ability to vote, PepsiCo launched its Unmute Your Voice Campaign. 26:12
Esperanza’s team is focused on leaning into the communities that need the most help as it enters 2021. 28:06
2020 has shown Americans to be empathetic, looking for ways to help however they can. 29:30
PepsiCo finds itself in so many households in the US that the decision to make a bold message brings a lot of risk. 32:41
Esperanza takes responsibility in her role as a Latina executive to bring others along to change their paths for the better. 35:06
The ability to show up, take action without someone asking, and put yourself out there will bring the greatest rewards. 38:30
Throughout her career, Esperanza has received advice and help from high-level executives to be successful. 39:15
The experience of losing both of her parents, while devastating, taught Esperanza a lot about herself and her family history. 42:10
Esperanza feels a responsibility to be empathetic to the motivations behind the actions of the people around her. 44:15
Looking back, Esperanza would encourage herself to take the offered hands of anyone that had done her wrong. 46:01
The Mastercard Initiative created a card that allowed anyone that is transgender to have their true identity on the card. 48:35
For those marketers with a fixed mindset, current times offer the opportunity to think about things differently. 50:52

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.